MICROBES

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Get the whole story behind the
Microbes comic book online at
askabiologist.asu.edu/microbes

Or, learn more about your bodys

immune system in Viral Attack at
askabiologist.asu.edu/viral-attack
 Deputy Lacto
Deputy E. coli Sheriff Phage
MRSA the Resistant
Strep Bacteria

Bacteria Bandits

Prologue
You may already know that some bacteria can make you sick. Unlike the
bacteria that cause diseases and infections, most of the bacteria inside you
right now are harmless and live peacefully side by side with the cells of your
body. These bacteria work together with your cells to keep other unwanted
invaders away and to help keep your body running smoothly.

Cast
In this story, you will see how good bacteria, antibiotics, and new technologies
help keep the bad guys from taking over the body. Many bacteria appear
throughout this story. They come in many different colors, shapes, and sizes.

Credits
Karla Moeller
Editor

Sabine Deviche
Illustration, Design and Original Script

Jo Ramirez
Color to Line Art Conversion

Arizona Science Center & Ask A Biologist | Funded by the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes for Health | Page 1
 Our story takes place in the tiny
hidden world inside your body...

You might not realize it, but you are

home to trillions of bacteria, tiny life
forms too small to see without the
help of a microscope.

Bacteria come here from many different places.

Some hop from person to
Some float through the air person through the
in tiny particles of water. objects we touch, like
money or door knobs.

Others hitch a ride down

the digestive system with
the food you eat.

Some kinds have lived here since Many others (between 300
the very beginning, when your and 1,000 different kinds)
body was just a couple days old. have moved in since. Human Body
Population:
10 Quintillion

Arizona Science Center & Ask A Biologist | Funded by the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes for Health | Page 2
 Thriving bacterial communities exist in many different parts of the body.

Others make themselves

at home in the plaque
inside your mouth.

Some live on the surface Little colonies even exist

of your skin and on the under your eyelids, on the
hairs of your scalp. surface of your eyes.

Your bodys Most folks in this town are good,

largest bacterial helpful, law-abiding bacteria.
communities exist
along your digestive
tract, in your
large and small Need a
intestines. hand?
How are
Howdy! you?
You might Hello!
know it by
another name:
your gut.

They help with digestion and make Hmmm...

important vitamins the body needs. This place
looks nice!
Vitamin K
keeps blood and Biotin helps
bones healthy. cell growth.

e
Vitamin Gutvill
K

Biotin Once in a while, some pretty

unsavory characters come to visit...

Arizona Science Center & Ask A Biologist | Funded by the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes for Health | Page 3
 Lets meet the heroes of our town. When bad bacteria come to visit, its
up to these deputies to keep bad guys from making themselves at home.

Howdy,
How about Im deputy
that one? Lacto.
Meet
my partner,
deputy
Looks E. coli.
like we found
our new
home!

So, what Woah, you

brings you to dont belong
Gutville? here.
Theres no
room here for
you folks.

Were
looking for
a place to
stay.

Usually, the body's defenses can

keep the bad bacteria from
sticking around.
Move along
now! Good job,
partner!

EXIT

Other unwelcomed
visitors arent quite so
easy to get rid of...

Arizona Science Center & Ask A Biologist | Funded by the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes for Health | Page 4
 These villains might come through the air,
hitching a ride in drops of saliva from a
sick person who coughed without covering This way,
his or her mouth. gang!

Then they make themselves at

home in the throat and tonsils.

Strep It can also

Oh no, these throat? Whats give the body
hooligans are strep that? fever and
bacteria. They chills.
can cause serious It makes
trouble! the throat
scratchy and red,
and makes it hurt
to swallow.

They might
give the
body strep
throat!

Sometimes the bad guys get out of control and When that happens,
are just too much for the body to handle alone. we have to bring out
the big guns:
Antibiotics.

Uh-oh,theyve
taken over the
throat!

Arizona Science Center & Ask A Biologist | Funded by the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes for Health | Page 5
 Antibiotic pills are Inside the small intestine, antibiotics are
broken down in the absorbed into the blood stream. This network
stomach and small of blood vessels carries the antibiotics
intestine, releasing throughout the other parts of the body.
chemicals that are
bad news for
bacteria.
Stomach

Small
Intestine

Back in Throat Town, the Meanwhile,

antibiotics are working! in Gutville Antibiotics
travel through the
Lets get entire body, and cant
out of here, I dont feel always tell us normal
quick! so good. bacteria from the
bad ones.

Strep bacteria are defeated,

but many good bacteria from
Gutville and other parts of the
body are hit as well.

The once-thriving bacterial

communities throughout the
Human Body are now ghost towns.

Arizona Science Center & Ask A Biologist | Funded by the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes for Health | Page 6
 It takes about 3 days for antibiotics to
leave the body after the last pill is taken. Bit by bit, good bacteria return.
New bacteria move in to fill the
empty spaces left behind.
To help
normal bacteria
b,
return, a doctor scrucrub
might recommend s
eating yogurt. Why
yogurt?

Its full
of good bacteria
called cultures,
or probiotics.

Large families of bacteria move in with

the yogurt and other foods.

Welcome!

It doesn't happen overnight but after

a while, the towns are back to normal
and running smoothly again.

But peace and quiet might not last.

One day a new band of strangers
appear.

A few came in through a They were soon on the

cut in the skin that move, using the blood
wasnt properly washed, stream to travel to
and they multiplied fast. other parts of the body.

Arizona Science Center & Ask A Biologist | Funded by the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes for Health | Page 7
 MRSA sets up camp in many places such
as the lungs, bone, blood, and skin. Better
move along We know
MRSA, youre just what to
not welcome do with your
here! type...

Let me
introduce myself:
Im MRSA the My gang
Resistant. and I are taking
over the entire
body!

More antibiotics were taken to try to

get rid of MRSA. This time, however, Oh no, the Taking more
something unexpected happened... antibiotics antibiotics will
arent only end up
working! hurting us good
bacteria.

Hahaha,
you cant
hurt me!

Were
in serious
This is where cutting edge trouble!
nanotechnology comes to the rescue!

Whos
that??
Howdy,
folks!

Nanotechnology deals
with making new
materials and
medicines out of tiny
building blocks such as
atoms and molecules.

Arizona Science Center & Ask A Biologist | Funded by the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes for Health | Page 8
 My name MRSA the
is Sheriff Resistant.
ED
Phage.
T
N ALIVE
WAAD OR
I've been
looking for a
real nasty outlaw DE
that goes by the
name of...
e,
c

SA
n y
ta d
ED is ce bo
NT esea e
WA R
R p h
c t
ti ng st
io ti in
M b
ti u a
n r ag
A is s
r d e
p

o im
F r
c

Dont worry Receptors are

good bacteria, those little
I wont hurt I can tell structures on our
you. by your surfaces.
receptors that
youre not the Their unique
ones I need shapes let
to find. them bind with
only certain
molecules.

Receptors?
What are
those?

I know Ive
Thats right! found the right villain
All bacteria have when their receptors
unique receptors on match the shape on the
the outside, kind of end of my guns.
like ID badges.

Arizona Science Center & Ask A Biologist | Funded by the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes for Health | Page 9
 I get My Phage Virus...
it now! receptors we meet
dont match again!
so you know
Im not
MRSA.

Yes,
exactly!

MRSA the
Resistant.

This body
isn't big
enough for
the both of
us.

-
l i ck k
c lic
c

G !
B AN
Arizona Science Center & Ask A Biologist | Funded by the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes for Health | Page 10
 Urg...
Gahhh!

Phage Ok, whos

Virus just next?
defeated
the boss!

We better
get out of
here quick!

Thank you My posse of

so much! Good
You spared phage viruses will luck!
us good townsfolk keep looking for
from MRSAs gang MRSA's gang.
when antibiotics
werent enough. We wont
rest until all of
those villains have
been defeated.
Bye!

No problem!
My work is The body can rest soundly
not finished again, knowing its safe
yet. thanks to our heroes
watching over it.

Arizona Science Center & Ask A Biologist | Funded by the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes for Health | Page 11
 obes
Micr E
TAK
NE
SCE
E
DAT
Credits
Funding Support

Collaborative Support

Acknowledgements
Microbes was developed with the help of Arizona Science Centers
Pathways Design Team. Graphic and website development provided by
Arizona State University School of Life Sciences Visualization Laboratory.
Additional photos from wikimedia.com.

Plan your next visit to Arizona Science Center and play the part of your
favorite microbe in the live demonstration, Microbes: The Good, The Bad,
and The Ugly.
Arizona Science Center and Ask A Biologist
have joined forces in building Body Depot, a
place where you can learn about your amazing
body. Visit Body Depot online at
askabiologist.asu.edu/body-depot

MONSTER MANUAL
Read a real monster tale about the tiny
instruction manual that you carry around in
each of your cells. Then try out Monster
Builder, a fun game where you decode and
build your own monsters. You can find it at
askabiologist.asu.edu/monster-manual